Facebook limits use of ‘Listen’ to approved partners

Is there a difference between the word ‘listen’ and ‘play’ on Facebook? Yes, there is! Music app developers who use the word ‘play’ instead of ‘listen’ would have a better chance to get on Facebook. But why?

According to Facebook, music app developers can only use the word ‘listen’ if they have a relationship with the right owners. Referring to a Facebook spokesperson Costello said:

‘’ Developers can submit any type of action for their app but we have a separate process in place for “listen” actions where we need to check that the developer has appropriate relationships in place with rights owners. We are updating our developer tool to make the submission process clearer over the coming days. In the meantime, interested music developers can reach out to musicdevelopers@fb.com with questions.’’

Do you know Spotify? Spotify is a famous music streaming service app on Facebook, which every user can create a playlist for friends. It is like sharing music for free. It seems like the popular apps like Spotify and Rdio are allowed to use the word ‘listen’. However, this would be an advantage for Spotify and Radio, but a disadvantage as well for other competitors.

So it is interesting that music streaming apps would have more chance to get on Facebook if they use the word ‘play’ instead of ‘listen’. So do you think this is fair? As Costello the spokesperson of Facebook said:

“I wonder how many (other) actions are being reserved for their partners… If it’s a rights issue then why are developers allowed to use “play” without them checking to see if the appropriate relationships are in place with the rights owners? You’d think if the developer didn’t have the correct rights in place, Facebook would reject their action whether it was “listen,” “play” or “whatever.’’

What is your opinion about this policy? Do you will react differently on the word ‘listen’ or ‘play’ ?